


Medium

by tella



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-18 03:21:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18112223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tella/pseuds/tella
Summary: “This is not a good time,” he gritted out, not looking to his side where the voice was coming from.He could feel the other students looking at him. He knew what they said about him, what they thought about him. He was the weird kid who wore make up and dressed differently, not to mention that he was often found talking to himself. He really didn’t want to think about what they would say if they knew the truth.He sighed in relief as he finally reached the classroom and the voice finally got fed up of being ignored and went away. He stepped into the room and stifled a groan as he saw that one of his biggest bullies was already seated at their desk.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So after binge watching episodes of Medium, Ghost Whisperer and Charmed (original) and films like The Conjuring and Insidious (as well as finding an old McShep fic I wrote years ago) I was inspired to write this.
> 
> I actually have it all planned out, all chapters (at least 10?) for part one and part two has been partly planned (cause it is going to be longer, more episodic?) but I'm not sure how often this will be updated as I will be concentrating on City of Bones (finishing the first part at least.)
> 
> Also I am terrible of thinking of titles, as is probably obvious, so if anyone has any ideas better than mine, please comment.

 

Magnus walked down the school corridor, gritting his teeth as he tried to ignore the voice that was chattering away at him. He kept his head down as he made his way through the busy halls to his next class.

“This is not a good time,” he gritted out, not looking to his side where the voice was coming from.

He could feel the other students looking at him. He knew what they said about him, what they thought about him. He was the weird kid who wore make up and dressed differently, not to mention that he was often found talking to himself. He really didn’t want to think about what they would say if they knew the truth. He sighed in relief as he finally reached the classroom and the voice finally got fed up of being ignored and went away. He stepped into the room and stifled a groan as he saw that one of his biggest bullies was already seated at their desk.

“Hey freak,” Sebastian smirked at him.

“Great,” Magnus mumbled as he made his way to his own seat, keeping a wide berth from the blond boy.

He sat down in his seat, keeping a watch on Sebastian out of the corner of his eye as he pulled out his note books from his bag. He winced as he saw Sebastian smirk at him as he turned in his seat. He tensed as he prepared himself for whatever the blond boy was planning, only to sigh in relief as the teacher and the rest of the students came into the classroom.

He opened his history book and kept his head down as the class settled. He saw Alec Lightwood settle down in his seat a few desks in front of his beside his brother Jace. The two brothers were part of the popular crowd, even with Alec being openly out at their school. Magnus could admit to himself that he had a crush on the other boy, but he knew that Alec would never look twice at him, not the freak of the school.

He sighed as he gave a small shake of his head and put all those foolish thoughts out of his head and began to concentrate on what his teacher was saying. The rest of the day went about the same, going from class to class avoiding his bullies and just waiting for school to finish.

 

***

 

“Magnus?” his dad called as he entered his house and closed the door.

“Yeah,” he said as he dumped his bag, kicked off his shoes and hung up his jacket before making his way to the kitchen.

“How was school?” his father asked as he turned from the stove to smile at him.

“The usual,” he shrugged as he walked over to him and took the spoon off him and gave the rice a quick stir, “What are you making?”

“Ikan Bakar,” he said and when he saw the look on his sons face, he laughed as he assured him, “Don’t worry I removed the head.”

The dish had always been one of his favourite, but when his mother had first made it for him when he was four, he had been too scared to eat the fish because the eyes were still in the head and he had felt it like it was watching him. He had only been able to eat it after his father had removed the head, that was the only way he has been able to eat it since.

“Thank you,” he smiled as he blushed at his father’s laughter. He went to go and sit at the table but stopped as his father gripped his arm, turning him back to face him, “What?”

“Are you okay?” Ismaya asked him.

“I'm fine,”

“Magnus?” he said with a raised eyebrow.

“There’s two ghosts following me around,” he sighed as he gave a small shrug and went to sit down at the table, “One’s this boy, he’s a couple of years older than me. He just wants me to find his girlfriend and tell her that the accident wasn’t her fault.”

“And the other?” his father asked as he checked the fish in the grill before he sat down across from him.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged as he explained, “It’s just a voice and it’s not all that clear. It’s sort of a mumble and I can’t really make it out.”

Ismaya nodded and smiled at his son. He wasn’t sure what to say to his son, he didn’t have the gift, but he wanted his son to know that he was there for him. That he was always willing to help him in any way he could, so that he wouldn’t lose his son the same way that he had lost his wife.

“What about the girlfriend? Have you found her?” he asked.

“Yeah, but she goes to a college across the state.”

“Well, I can’t do anything about the mumbling voice,” he said as he stood up and went back over to the stove. He checked the rice, turned the hob off and quickly checked the fish in the grill before he turned back to Magnus and said, “But I can give you a lift to the college.”

“Or you could let me drive there myself,” he said casually.

“Yeah, you still have six months on your driving ban,” he scoffed as he turned back to the grill and pulled out the tray and basted the fish with the turmeric oil and placed it back under the grill.

“Oh, come on, it was just one time!” Magnus moaned.

“Fourth time!” he snorted. “In two months.”

“Okay, but that last time wasn’t my fault.” Magnus defended himself, “That ghost came out of nowhere,”

Ismaya ignored him as he picked a bundle of petai and turned to his son and asked, “Do you want these cooked up in a little bit of the turmeric oil or we could use up some of the sambal sauce from the other night, or what about leaving them raw?”

Realising his father wasn’t going to change his father's mind about the driving he said, “The sambal sauce.”

“Here you can prep the petai,” he said as he handed over the beans to Magnus and pulled out a pan, placing it on a hob and heating it. He walked over to the fridge and took out a container of sambal sauce. He walked back to the stove and spooned some sauce into the frying pan and took the sliced beans from his son and added them to the pan. He gave it a quick stir coating the beans. He took the fish out from under the grill and took the plate that Magnus was holding out to him. “Thank you, the rest should be ready in a minute if you want to start setting the table.”

“Okay,” he said as he took the plated fish from his father and placed it on the table. He went to the cupboard and pulled out two plates and tumblers, before taking cutlery out of the drawer and began to set the table. He took another plate out of the cupboard and walked over to the fridge and placed some rice crackers onto the plate, he picked up a jug of iced tea and closed the fridge before returning to the table.

When he was finished his father had finished cooking and had plated up the rice and beans and placed them around the table. He was just adding a small dish of soy sauce and a plate of steamed papaya leaves. They sat down and began to load up their plates and began their dinner.

“When do you plan to go and see the girlfriend?” Ismaya asked.

“I’m not sure, maybe this weekend, at least once I figure out what to say to her.” he said before he stuffed a forkful of rice in his mouth.

“What does he want you to tell her?” he asked his son.

“The night he died they had an argument, a big huge fight.” he said using a cracker to scoop up some rice. He used his spoon to drizzle some sambal sauce over it as he said, “He wants me to give her a ring.” He tugged a chain out from under his shirt and held out a silver ring, “He had bought it for her and was planning to propose.”

“How did you get the ring?” Ismaya asked.

“Oh, you remember that out of town farmers market we went to last week, because you heard that they might be selling jackfruit,” he waited for his father to nod before he finished, “Well, that’s where I first encountered him. He kept pestering me at the market until I gave in and went across the street to an antique shop and bought the ring.”

“I remember, you disappeared for a while,” Ismaya nodded as he smirked at his son as he added, “You surprised me by coming back with the jackfruit.”

“Just because I’m not interested in cooking, doesn’t mean I don’t pay attention when you teach me things,” he huffed with an eye roll.

“I have to work late tonight,” Ismaya said, ignoring his sons’ dramatics, “Phoebes daughter is sick, so she can’t close the restaurant tonight.”

“Okay,” Magnus nodded.

“Are you planning to stay in tonight?” he asked as he took a sip of his iced tea.

“No, I was planning to go to one of the hundreds of parties that I was invited to,” he rolled his eyes at his father, seeing the look on his face he grimaced as he asked, “Too far?”

“A little,” he scowled at his son before he smirked at him and said, “But I’ll let it go this time. I’ll have to go in early too, we have a delivery coming in and I want to make sure the imports from China are stored away properly.”

“You know one of these days, you are going to have to trust Anthony,” he snorted as his father stood up.

“He’s only been working in the restaurant for a few weeks,” his father defended as he scraped his plate clean and placed it in the sink. He cleaned his hands on a cloth and flung it at his son as he said, “And for your cheek you get to clean up the kitchen.”

He smirked as he walked out of the kitchen as his son squawked and began grumbling complaints about how much he had to clean and went to go get ready to start his shift at the restaurant.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Magnus sat in the back of his class, biting his lips nervously as he waited for the teacher to call his name and what group he would be working with. Sebastian and Raj had also still to be sorted into a group.

“Oh, god this is not happening,” he groaned as he realised his worst nightmare was about to become true.

“And for or last group, Alec, Magnus, Sebastian and Raj.”

He kept his head down, to hide how horrified he was that he would have to work with his bullies, not that the teacher really knew about any of that. He heard the scrapes of chairs and tables as the students arranged themselves to sit with their assigned groups. He took a couple of deep breaths to try and calm down.

“Ah, Mr Santiago,” their teacher said as he turned to look at the boy who had just walked into the door. “Because of your tardiness, you will just have to join the last group with Alec.”

Magnus gathered up his books and looked up to see where his group was gathering, but jumped as he saw Alec stood in front of his desk.

“Hey, I’m Alec,” the tall boy greeted as he dragged a free chair over to Magnus desk and sat down.

“We know,” Raphael snorted at the popular jock as he grabbed the free desk beside Magnus and dragged it closer to them and sat down.

“Anyway,” Alec said as he ignored the other boy and asked, “Your Magnus and Raphael, right?”

Magnus nodded but he couldn't help but tense up as he watched the two bullies make their way over to them.

“Oh, come on, Lightwood, we all know who the freak is.” Sebastian laughed as he and Raj joined them.

“Yeah, and we all know who the douche-bags are,” Alec smirked at him, when Sebastian took a threatening step towards him, he snapped, “Sit down. You don’t like us, that’s fine, I don’t care. I don’t like you much either, but I’m not gonna let it interfere with this project,” he didn’t wait to see if they had anything to say and opened his notebook and asked, “So, what are we going to do?”

Magnus tuned them out and doodled on his note pad as the others argued over what they were going to work on.

He jumped slightly as he Alec nudged him and asked him, “What do you think?”

He looked at him before he scanned the other boys. He looked back down at his pad and shrugged as he said, “Whatever, majority rules, right?”

“But…”

“You heard him,” Raj spoke over Alec, “Three against one and the…”

“Fine,” Alec interrupted him with a glare, not wanting him to finish. He wasn’t all that upset about the subject they had settled on, just that they hadn’t really given Magnus a chance to participate, “I guess we’re doing the civil war.”

“Wait, what?” Magnus frowned at them.

“The civil war,” Sebastian glared at him as he said, “You already agreed, you can’t change your mind now.”

“Okay, but I was only going to say that Mr. Reynolds had us work on a civil war project last year.”

“Exactly, it’ll be an easy A.” Sebastian smirked.

“Or he’ll give us an F for pure laziness,” Alec snorted.

Whatever Sebastian was going to say was cut off as the bell rang.

Magnus began to gather up his stuff and muttered, “Whatever, I still have some notes from last year. I’ll bring them in tomorrow, and we can decide how we want to go.”

He didn’t wait for their response as he shouldered his bag and rushed out of the room.

“Hey, Magnus, wait up,” Alec called out as he chased after him.

He frowned as the other boy flinched when he reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop. He took his hand away, holding them up as he said, “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he shrugged as he stepped back, ensuring that there was plenty of space between them before he asked, “Was there…do you want something?”

“I was…” he bit his lip as he took a step forward and frowned as Magnus took a step back, keeping the distance between them.

He didn’t really know Magnus, but he knows what the other students said about him. Alec always saw him alone and on occasions had seen him muttering to himself. He had also noticed that he kept a safe distance from the other students, jumping at the slightest movement or loud noise. Alec had always been intrigued by the other boy, even when he was still in the closet, he had been drawn to the boy, how beautiful he was, but he had been too afraid to approach him.

He was happy that the teacher had arranged for the two of them to be working in the same group. He had been hoping to get to know the other boy better and he couldn’t help but curse the teacher for pairing them with the school biggest bullies because he knew that they had picked on Magnus.

“I was wondering if you wanted to join us for lunch. We could go over our notes for the project.”

“I don’t…I …” he shifted nervously, eyes darting around.

“I thought we could get a start,” he said as he shot him an encouraging smile as he finished, “I just think that the quicker we can get it done the less time we have to spend around the others.”

“I guess,” he said as he bit his lip nervously, eyes roaming everywhere as he searched for the trap.

Alec noticed the way the boy was still on guard and smiled encouragingly a him as he said, “Great, come on. We can try and see which one of us can figure out what the mystery meat is first.”

“Oh no… I don’t …I don’t eat the school dinners,” Magnus said, nose scrunched up in disgust, “My, uh, my dad brings leftovers from the restaurant.”

“Oh, your dad works at the restaurant?” Alec asked as they began to walk towards the cafeteria.

“My dad owns the restaurant,” Magnus corrected as he added, “The Adiratna. We also own the old boat house.”

“Oh, right, sorry, I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay,” he shrugged as he mumbled sarcastically, “It’s not like I grew up in this town.”

Alec blushed at Magnus sarcastic comment. He knew Magnus was right, the other boy had been born and grew up here. He knew the other boy had once been friends with Raphael when they were younger, but something had driven them apart, he didn’t know what, but it had left Magnus alone.

He decide to ignore the remark and cleared his throat and asked, “Adritna, that’s beautiful, does it mean anything?”

“Adiratna,” Magnus corrected him as they stood in line, “It Indonesian, it means beautiful jewel.”

“Oh, that’s beautiful,” he said as they shuffled up in the cue.

Magnus grimaced as Alec reached out for something grey and lumpy that he couldn’t identify. He reached out and gripped Alec wrist and blurted, “Oh god, if I share my lunch with you, will you please back away from whatever …that is.”

“It’s beef curry,” Alec said and couldn’t help but laugh at the horrified look on the other boy’s face.

“That is not curry.” Magnus said, disgust clear in the boy’s voice, “I know curry and that is not it.”

“You’re a food snob,” Alec laughed before he asked, “Are you sure?”

“I have enough,” he shrugged before he added, “Although it is authentic, so you might not like it.”

“I’ve actually been to the Adiratna,” he paused to check with Magnus for the pronunciation of the word, when the other boy nodded, he finished, “a few times with my family. I’ve always enjoyed the food there.”

“If you’re sure?” Magnus asked.

“Let me think, sloppy school dinners or food cooked from a restaurant?” he pretended to silently debate it before he smiled at him, “I think I know which one I’m choosing, and thank you for sharing.”

“It’s okay,” he shrugged as he followed him over to table, “I don’t think I would have enjoyed my lunch if I had to watch you eat…that.”

“Snob,” Alec snorted as they settled down in one of the back tables.

Magnus sat down across from him as he took out his lunch from his back pack, keeping a wary eye on Alec. He wasn’t sure what was going on or how to take Alec’s teasing. He really wasn’t used to any of the other students talking to him.

“This is Bakpao,” he said as he placed two large steamed buns on a napkin and passed it over to him, “It’s filled with curried chicken,”

“Spicy?” Alec asked as he accepted the napkin.

“Mild,” he said, as he placed two large buns on a napkin in front of himself, “We sell them at the boathouse too, so we have to cater to a lot of tastes.”

The boathouse was a small bistro set near the docks of their small town. It had been damaged in a fire and had been left abandoned for as long as he could remember. His father had bought the bistro after his mother had given up the fight with her depression and her gift, they had spent their time rebuilding it as a bonding and healing experience after his other had committed suicide.

“The name of the bistro, does it mean anything?” Alec asked before he opened his bottle of water and took a sip.

“Maharani,” Magnus nodded as he pulled out a took another tupperware bowl out of his bag, “Yeah, it means queen or she who rules the empire. My dad named it after my mom.”

“It’s beautiful,” Alec smiled at him.

“Thanks,” he gave a tentative smile back as he opened the bowl revealing a salad, “This is Gado Gado, it’s an Indonesian salad.”

They ate their lunch as they discussed how they were going to do the project and what notes they each had.

“Thank you, it was delicious,” Alec said as they cleaned up their lunch.

“Well, I wasn’t going to sit here and watch you eat that,” he said, nose scrunched in distaste.

Alec bit his lip as he tried to hide his smile at how adorable he found it.

“Hey, Alec, why are you sitting here with this loser?” Jace asked as he walked over to their table.

Alec watched as all the happiness and ease melt out of the other boy with a flinch. Magnus tensed, face hard and cold, he quickly finished packing up. He stood up and shouldered his bag and mumbled, “See you tomorrow,” before he rushed off.

Alec turned and glared at his brother as he reached up and punched him on the arm.

“Ow, what the hell Alec!” Jace snapped as he glared at his brother and sat down beside him.

Alec put his notebook in his bag as he hissed at his brother, “Why would you say something like that?”

“What?” Jace asked, genuinely confused.

“How could you call him that?” he asked as he stood up.

“What? It’s true.” he said as he looked up at his brother and seeing that he was still glaring at him he defended,  
“Oh, come on, everybody thinks it.”

“I don’t,” he snapped at him before he turned and walked away, ignoring his brother shouting after him and hoping to be able to catch up with Magnus.

His shoulders dropped in disappointment when he reached the hall and found no sign of the other boy.

 

*** ** ***

 

Alec sat on the small wall at the front of the school entrance as he watched the crowd, looking for Magnus. He had spent the rest of yesterday looking for the other boy, but he had never been able to catch him and had gotten out of school to see Magnus climb in to a car and drive away. This morning he had woken up determined to leave early to catch the other boy before school started. He had told both Izzy and Jace, but when they weren’t ready, he had left them behind knowing he was going to hear about it when they got to school, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to see Magnus and talk to him.

He jumped up when he spotted Magnus walk up the path to the school entrance,

“Magnus!” he called out as he stepped in front of him. He winced as he saw the other boy jump and tense up, “Sorry, sorry, I just…I tried to talk to you yesterday but you…” he trailed off with a shrug before he took a deep breath and said, “I …I wanted to apologies…for…for what Jace…he can be an ass…”

“It’s okay,” Magnus mumbled as he took a step to the side to walk around him. He jumped as Alec grabbed him arm.

“Sorry,” Alec said as he quickly let go of his arm as he said, “And you’re wrong. It’s not okay. He shouldn’t have said that, spoken to you like that.”

“It’s okay,” Magnus shrugged, eyes still on the ground as he told him, “I’m used to it.”

“But you shouldn’t be,” Alec snapped angrily, noticing that his anger made Magnus hunch in on himself, he took a deep breath and sighed, “Sorry, it’s just…you’re wrong, you shouldn’t be used to it, because it shouldn’t be happening.”

“I…”

“And I am sorry. I’m sorry that I didn’t…that I have just stood back and let it happen…”

“Why?” Magnus interrupted him.

“What?”

“Why now? Why are you apologising now? Do you want something?” he frowned at him.

“No, I mean, yes… I…” he took a deep breath and tried again, “I’m apologising because someone should and because I’ve never done something, anything, to stop it,” he held up a hand to stop whatever Magnus was going to say and continued, “And I do want something. I want to get to know you, to be your friend…”

“I don’t want your pity,” he mumbled.

“It’s not pity. I mean it.” Alec insisted, “I’ve always found you interesting…”

“Weird,”

“Interesting, and I enjoyed talking to you yesterday at lunch and I…” he shrugged as he finished, “I just want to spend time with you.”

“Is this a joke? Is this one of those pranks, like in those high school movies?”

“What! No, I just…I just really liked talking to you, I promise.”

Magnus bit his lip as he studied the other boy, trying to see if he was telling the truth and that this really wasn’t some kind of prank or joke.

“Okay, I accept your apology, even though you really don’t have anything to apologise for,” He shrugged.

“Great!” Alec smiled at him as he turned and walked into the building with him, “What do you have first?”

“English?”

“Yeah, me too,”

“I know, we’re in the same class,” he said, eyes still darting around the hall, keeping alert of his surroundings, “We actually have most of the same classes.”

“Oh, I…” he blushed lightly before he cleared his throat and said, “Good, then you can let me borrow you notes for Janeways class.”

“Yeah, if you think I can stay awake in her class as she drones on about Plato any more than you can, you’re in for some serious disappointment.” Magnus snorted as they stopped at his locker. He opened it and put in his lunch and the books he didn’t need for now, he closed it and turned to Alec and said, “But now I know the real reason you want to be my friend. You just want access to my notes.”

“What! No!” he protested as he looked at the other boy but laughed as he saw that Magnus was sending his a tentative smirk. He smiled at him as he joked back, “Well, yeah, that and your lunch. After yesterday, you've ruined school lunches for me, so I hope you have enough to share.”

“Ah, see, the truth is coming out now,” Magnus laughed.

Alec smiled as they made their way to his locker, both joking and laughing. After he had deposited his book in his locker, they walked to their class. He frowned as he saw Magnus pause at the entrance, eyes darting to the empty seat beside Jace and Simon, before he walked to the back of the class to his usual seat. Alec ignored Jace and Simon's questioning looks as he shrugged and went to sit in the back beside Magnus. He smiled at Magnus as he began to pull out his books, enjoying the smile that spread the boy’s face.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m Scottish, so I’m guessing on how the school system works and certain American words, so if someone is notices anything I don't mind it being pointed out, but no negative criticism, please.  
> Also all the food mentioned is how I was taught to make it, although I have had to substitute certain food items for others. Again I'm Scottish so if the translation of certain words are wrong, feel free to correct.


End file.
